Evaluation of CalAIM's PATH and Community Supports Initiatives

Health Economics and Evaluation Research (HEER) Program

UCLA CHPR’s Health Economics and Evaluation Research Program was contracted by California’s Department of Health Care Services to evaluate CalAIM’s Providing Access and Transforming Health (PATH) and Community Supports.

Evaluation of CalAIM's PATH and Community Supports Initiatives

Evaluating two CalAIM initiatives focused on building a more coordinated, person-centered, and equitable health system that works for everyone.

The HEER team is evaluating two major demonstrations called Providing Access and Transforming Health (PATH) and Community Supports authorized under a Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver initiative called California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM). These demonstrations began on January 1, 2022, and will end by December 31, 2026.

The California Department of Health Care Services based these demonstrations on the success and lessons learned from the evaluations of the Whole Person Care and Health Homes Program demonstrations conducted by the HEER team.

Providing Access and Transforming Health (PATH)

PATH funds capacity-building and infrastructure development among community-based organizations and health care providers to deliver two new Medi-Cal benefits called Enhanced Care Management (ECM) to coordinate the care of high-need, high-cost Medi-Cal beneficiaries across system of care and Community Supports to address members’ health-related social needs.

Select Objectives of PATH Evaluation

Determine if PATH strengthens infrastructure

Measure growth in ECM and community support providers and services

Assess improvements in Medi-Cal access for re-entry following incarceration

Community Supports

Community Supports include 15 distinct services. Seven of these are designed to provide short-term housing, rent support, or housing supports, focusing on members experiencing or at-risk of homelessness. Another three address the needs of individuals at risk of institutional long-term care, and the rest address other needs such as medically tailored meals.

Select Objectives of Community Supports Evaluation

Assess whether managed care plans increase offerings of and contracts with providers for Community Supports

Measure Community Supports utilization by eligible members

Examine changes in public investments in housing and other health-related social needs services in relation to new Medicaid funding

Evaluate members’ access to outpatient care, acute care utilization, and long-term care admissions and stays

Assess improvements in quality of care and health outcomes

Identify disparities in service utilization, quality of care, and health outcomes

PATH and Community Supports Evaluations

The HEER team conducts a mixed method evaluation of these demonstrations. This includes an assessment of how California managed care plans and their contracted providers implemented these programs, what challenges they faced, and what lessons they learned. The evaluation also examines the outcomes, including whether PATH developed the capacity of various organizations in California to provide Enhanced Care Management or Community Supports to Medi-Cal beneficiaries, and whether delivery of these services led to better health and more efficiency measured by a reduction in use of intensive services in the emergency departments, hospitals, or nursing homes and their associated costs.

Read the preliminary CalAIM evaluation report.